Good Things Never Die
by Lady Lark
Summary: Coming home from a routine supply run, Trunks is confronted with a terrible discovery. Set in the Furture Timeline. COMPLETED ONE-SHOT.


Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and all of its characters were created by Akira Toriyama. I own none of them. This is a piece of fanfiction for fans by fans, no money has been made off of this work.

Good Things Never Die

By Lady Lark

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'I'd only been gone for twenty minutes, a half hour, tops, when I found her. She lay in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, her limbs bent at unnatural angles surrounded by half-folded laundry.

'"Mom!" I shrieked as I literally flew to her side, dropping the box of carefully scavenged supplies by the front door. I looked frantically about for someone, something, to help. I could feel her ki, barely. It was weak. Weaker than I have ever felt it. I concentrated and I could faintly hear her breath as it flowed in and out of her lungs. She was alive.

'I knelt by her muttering. "Oh Gods, Mommy! What do I do? What do I do?" I knew I shouldn't move her. I couldn't call a doctor. The phone lines were still non-functional and restoring them had been a low priority. Civilization was more concerned about food and shelter than communication. I realized then that it should have been a higher priority. I could try to find one. I knew of an operational clinic a few towns over. I only hoped that I had enough time.

'Rising to my feet, I ran towards the front door when I heard a soft voice.

'"Trunks . . ."

'I stopped dead in my tracks.

'"Trunks . . . is that you?"

'I ran back over to the foot of the stairs, falling to my knees by her side. "I'm here, Mom. You have to lie still. I'm going to go get a doctor."

'She shook her head, slowly. "No, Trunks."

'"But Mom!"

'"No manners . . .just like your father."

'"But what can I do?" I cried.

'"You can have hope."

'"What good will that do?"

'"Hope is a good thing. . . maybe the best of things. And good things never die. Remember that, Trunks. Hope will never die."

'"But you are." It was a statement. I could feel her life-force dwindling away.

'"Yes," she whispered, confirming my worst fears.

'"No! Don't say that! You can't die! I won't let you! I'm going to go get a doctor."

'"I said no, Trunks. I'm dying and . . . and I am not sure that I want to live anyway."

'"Mom, you can't know that! You can't say that! Mom . . . " Tears started to fall down my face.

'"Shhhhh. I know, Trunks. Just stay with me."

'"And do what? I asked sarcastically. "Sing songs, maybe play cards? You're hurt and you won't let me"

'"Shhhhh. Just like your father." She chuckled then grimaced. "Damn, that hurts," she murmured. "It's my time, and I'm ready. You don't need me anymore . . . you've grown into a fine man."

'"Don't say that! I do need you!"

'She smiled weakly at me. "I love you, my son." Her eyes closed, and I could see tears forming in the corners. I don't know if they were from the pain or from the fact that she was saying goodbye. But seeing them broke my heart a little more.

'I took her hand. It lay there limp in mine. I didn't know what else to do. She didn't want help and I had to respect that. She probably didn't want to burden people or maybe she thought that a doctor wouldn't do any good. Either way, she had made her wishes clear. So I stayed.

'I tried in vain to think of some topic of conversation something to do to take my mind away from the reality of my mother's death. But words seemed to fail me. So I just sat there, holding her hand and crooning softly. Her breathing became even more labored, punctuated with deep wracking coughs.

'The tears that had been streaming steadily down my face, threatened to blind me. How could I possibly let her go? How could I face this world without her? To the rest of the world I was the savior, the miraculous youth who saved them all. They saw me as some sort of super man. Only Mom saw me as another person, a very lonely person.

'It was almost over. I could feel it. Her ki was flickering and her breath came in short little hitches. I leaned over, pressing my forehead to hers.

'"I . . .I love you, Mom," I choked out. My throat threatened to close up. Lifting my head slightly, I placed a kiss on her forehead.

'One more painful gasp, and it was over. My mother was dead.

'I was alone.

'I sat there, holding her hand, feeling the warmth fade from it. Intellectually, I knew I was in shock, but I couldn't stop myself from rocking back and forth crooning softly. I wasn't ready to acknowledge her passing. I thought that maybe if I didn't let go, that maybe she would come back. Silly, I know. But you can't help what stupid ideas come to you.

'I don't remember how much time passed, but I know that when I finally returned to my senses, that the sun had set.

'Untangling my hand from hers, I rose to my feet. I stumbled up the stairs, cursing them as I went. I needed to get a few things. I couldn't stay in the compound by myself.

'In my room, I grabbed at items randomly tossing them into a pile in the center of the room. Clothes, pictures, mementos all ended up mixed together. I tossed an empty capsule at them and the pile disappeared in a puff of smoke. I bent over and grabbed the capsule and slipped it into my pocket.

'I staggered back down the stairs, clutching the railing in a death grip. I averted my eyes from her body at the foot of the stairs. I wasn't ready to deal with it just yet.

'I made my way downstairs to the lab there. I knew exactly what I wanted from there and it didn't take me long to find it: a slim black capsule case. Clutching it between my fingers, I walked outside into the night.

'I stood in the doorway, leaning heavily against the frame. My hands were shaking and the tears had not managed to stem their tide. Carefully, I opened the slender case and found the capsule I wanted from memory. I knew this case well, and I knew that my mother would not have changed the order.

'Pressing the button on the capsule, I tossed it a few feet away from me.

'POOF!

'The time machine appeared in a cloud of smoke. Without waiting for the smoke to clear, I stumbled over to the machine and painstakingly climbed in. With a heavy flop, I settled into the pilot's chair. I entered the coordinates of my destination quickly.

'Before I hit button to activate the time travel sequence, I lifted my head to take one final look around. I knew I was running away. But I couldn't stay in this cruel world any longer.

'But I had one last piece of unfinished business to complete. I pulled myself to my feet and I raised my hand and let the energy gather there. I waited until I had a large ball of energy in my palm. Taking aim, I hurled it through the open door. It detonated with a small explosion.

'I punched the ignition button. The time machine slowly rose into the air. From that position, I threw more ki balls at the compound until I was satisfied that it would burn to the ground.

'I couldn't leave my home and mother for scavengers to find.

'I closed the hatch and repositioned myself in the chair. After pulling on the safety belt, I leaned back and closed my eyes.

'When I opened them, I was here. I couldn't think of anywhere else where I could go. I couldn't stand to be left alone. You were my only hope. If it's ok, can I stay with you?'

Vegeta grunted and turned to look at his mate.

Her blue eyes were shining with tears as she regarded her son from across the table. 'Of course you can, Trunks.'

Trunks fell to his knees, sobbing. 'Oh thank you, Mom! Thank you!'

* * *

AN: Ok first off, if you didn't figure out. Most of the story is being told by Trunks to Bulma and Vegeta after he arrived in the past time. If you look, at the beginning of each line there is a single quote mark in front of each line signaling that someone is talking. It was my hint to you, if you will.

The idea for the story came from a challenge that I posed on the 0-DBZ-Fanfiction list on Yahoo!Groups to use one or more selected quotes as the inspiration for a fic. The quote I chose was this one "Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And good things never die." from the Shawshank Redemption.

Some of the inspiration for this comes from a now defunct RPG I used to be a part of well over two years ago. I played Mirai Trunks and I cannibalized some of my introduction from that RPG. In the RPG, Bulma was killed by aliens and Trunks found her already dead. I decided that since I am not planning on writing that fic just yet that I would have her die from injuries sustained in an accident. Something that in the ruined future world would be very probable.

This is a one-shot. There will be no sequel. Sorry folks, I have enough on my plate. The fic based on that RPG is very far down on my list and is supposed to be a collaboration.

Now I plan on working on more of "Plotting to Win."

Let me know what you think of this one! Thank you for reading!


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